THE Zone

I mentioned before that to improve you have to get out of your comfort zone.  Mediocrity lives there.  No one wants to live with mediocrity.  

Then there's another zone, the opposite of the comfort zone.  It's THE ZONE.  The place where focus and intensity and discipline live.  There are times where it seems impossible to push myself.  There are days where I don't want to have to be disciplined with my nutrition and diet.  Days when I can't bear the thought of that extra work out, or that long bike ride, or that speed/interval training run.  Then, something clicks.  Maybe it's because I'm only about a month away from an important race, maybe it's because I've been in a rut long enough and now I'm mentally and physically ready to push myself harder.  I don't know HOW it clicks, all I know is WHEN it clicks.  When I go from a normal fitness routine and into THE ZONE.

When you're in The Zone, all of the sudden, everything just seems easier.  Logging insane weekly miles is not a big deal, I'm not tempted by junk food that normally I couldn't say no to, when I would usually dread a long run on Sunday morning, I all of the sudden look forward to it.  Extra cross training I normally would avoid, like weights and bike rides and swimming, are thrown into the mix.  I have no idea how or why it happens, but being in The Zone is a great feeling.  I don't know about you, but the only way for me to get there is to set an end goal for myself, lay out a plan, and tell myself that veering from that plan is NOT an option.

It seems easy, but sometimes that follow through is the hardest part.  I know I've failed with the follow through.  But I've failed plenty of times and will continue to fail plenty more.  Keep trying.  Keep striving to be in The Zone, because when you're there you don't want to ever leave.